Site News  |   Monitor Keywords  |   Monitor Archive  |   Organizer  |   Account Info  |

System for validating refillable fuel cartridges

System for validating refillable fuel cartridges description/claims

The present invention relates in general to fuel cells, and more specifically, to a system for validating a refillable fuel cartridge that can be used for supplying fuel to fuel cells present in electronic devices.

With the advances made in wireless communication technology, the number of portable electronic devices in the market is increasing day by day. Examples of these portable electronic devices include, but are not limited to, cellular phones, laptops, pagers, portable radios, remote controls, portable audio and/or video players, portable gaming devices, and Personal Data Assistants (PDAs). These portable electronic devices require power to operate. For example, a printer requires power to print papers. Devices that can be used as sources of power in these portable electronic devices include, but are not limited to, cells, fuel cells, zinc-carbon batteries, alkaline batteries, lithium batteries and mercury batteries. Fuel cells are electro-chemical energy conversion devices that generate electrical energy by oxidation of fuels such as hydrogen by oxidants such as air. Examples of fuels are hydrocarbon fuels such as methanol, propane, gasoline, and natural gas; and chemical hydrides such as sodium borohydride, which can be directly oxidized or reformed to produce a directly oxidizable fuel such as hydrogen. Examples of the fuel cells include, but are not limited to, proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, phosphoric acid fuel cells, alkaline fuel cells, metal hydride fuel cells and electro-galvanic fuel cells. A fuel cell in an electronic device can be continuously supplied with fuel or oxidant from external sources. As a result, the fuel cell does not need to be replaced by a new fuel cell after the fuel in the fuel cell is consumed.

A fuel cell refilling system includes a fuel cell, a refillable fuel or oxidant cartridge and a refilling device. The refilling device provides fuel to the refillable fuel cartridge, and the refillable fuel cartridge, in turn, supplies fuel to the fuel cell. Each fuel cell is designed to oxidize only a specific type of fuel. For example, the fuel cell may be compatible with a specific type of fuel. Therefore, when a fuel cell is supplied with a wrong type of fuel or with fuel that has impurities, the fuel cell may get damaged. Nowadays, fake refillable fuel cartridges are manufactured that can be mechanically coupled to a fuel cell. However, these cartridges can contain a low-quality fuel. Therefore, it is necessary to validate a refillable fuel cartridge before it is used to supply fuel to the fuel cell. The refilling device that provides fuel to the refillable fuel cartridge may contain the wrong type of fuel. Additionally, the refilling device may not be compatible with the fuel cell due to business or security reasons. Hence, it becomes necessary for the fuel cell to determine whether an authorized refilling device has refilled the refillable fuel cartridge.

One of the known methods and systems uses a fuel-supply device for refilling a fuel cell in an electronic device. The electronic device provides the fuel-supply device with an identifier that determines the electronic device and the type of fuel to be supplied to the electronic device. Based on this identifier, a third-party authenticator decides whether the electronic device has access rights to the fuel-supply device.

Another known system provides a fuel-storage device that is capable of storing and transferring fuel to an electronic device. Examples of the fuel include, but are not limited to, fuels such as methanol, propane and gasoline. A reformer is used to extract hydrogen from the fuel. The extracted hydrogen is supplied to a fuel cell in the electronic device. The fuel-storage device includes a re-writable memory that stores information relevant to the usage of the fuel-source storage device. A controller, present in the electronic device, can access and change the information stored in the re-writable memory. The changed information determines the subsequent use of the fuel-storage device.

Yet another known system provides a consumable goods-holding unit that supplies consumable goods to a device using consumable goods. Examples of such consumable goods include fuels, inks, toners, and the like. The consumable goods-holding unit includes a consumable-goods management tag that is used to store and update a set of data. The set of data determines the remaining quantity of consumable goods in the consumable goods-holding unit. The device using consumable goods can access and update the set of data stored in the consumable-goods management tag, but stops accepting the consumable goods from the consumable goods-holding unit when the magnitude of the set of data is lower than a pre-defined level.

However, the systems described above have one or more of the following limitations. In one of these systems, the fuel cell in the electronic device does not validate the fuel-supply device before the fuel-supply device is used to supply the fuel to the fuel cell. Moreover, a third system component is required to decide whether the electronic device has access rights to the fuel-supply device. In another system, the electronic device containing the fuel cell is not validated by the fuel-storage device. As a result, a fuel-storage device can supply fuel to an unauthorized electronic device. Additionally, the fuel-storage device is not validated by the electronic device.

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, and which, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and explain various principles and advantages, all in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary electronic device where various embodiments of the present invention can be practiced;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a consuming device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the communication between a first device and a second device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for validating a first device by a second device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are flow diagrams illustrating a method for validating a refillable fuel cartridge by a refilling device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 are flow diagrams illustrating a method for a refillable fuel cartridge being validated by a consuming device, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

• What Is a Patent?
• What Is a Trademark or Servicemark?
• What Is a Copyright?
• Patent Laws